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  • For more than half the year, this sundial doesn't show the right time.

  • That's because in many nationsthe clocks spring forward by one

  • hour from the end of March to the end of October.

  • It's called daylight saving timeand it affects more

  • than one billion peopleBut recentlyseveral nations

  • have proposed scrapping it, including the European Union

  • So how did seasonal clock changes come about

  • and should we be getting rid of them

  •   In most countries, the standard 

  • timezone is generally in sync

  • with the sunFor example, midday is roughly when the

  • sun is highest in the sky, with equal amounts of daylight

  • either side. But for about 70 countries around the world,

  • this isn't the case for roughly  half the year because of daylight

  • saving time, which is the method of moving clocks forward during

  • warmer months so that darkness falls at a later time.

  •   Towards the end of March,

  • countries in the northern

  • hemisphere set their clocks ahead by one hour to push

  • sunsets later in the evenings and sunrises

  • later in the morningsThen, in late October

  • they are wound back by an hour, subtracting an hour of daylight

  • from the evening and making  the early mornings brighter

  • In the southern hemispherethe reverse occurs, with their 

  • daylight saving time taking place during their summers

  •  The idea of daylight saving was originally proposed by

  • New Zealander George Hudson in 1895. He was a scientist

  • studying insects and wanted  to take advantage of the

  • extra daylight in the summer to hunt for bugs

  •  The idea didn't catch on at the timebut at

  • the start of the 20th  century, a successful

  • British builder called  William Willett published

  • pamphlet called, 'The waste of daylight.' 

  • Willett proposed moving the clocks forward by 80 minutes

  • in 20-minute weekly increments

  • His campaign even gained the support of Winston 

  • Churchillbut Willett  died in 1915 before

  • his plans were realized

  •  William Willett was a keen golfer and wasn't a fan of

  • cutting short his round at dusk

  • He argued that several hours of sun were being

  • wasted while we slept and that we should use more

  • of it, along with the nice summer weather, to pursue

  • leisure activities after workHoweverwhen daylight

  • saving was finally adoptedit wasn't

  • to enjoy long the summer evenings

  •  In 1916, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire 

  • were the first countries to  implement daylight saving 

  • during the first world warThe aim was that by adjusting 

  • the clocks forwardless electricity would

  • be used for lightingthereby  conserving coal which could

  • instead be used to power production

  • towards the war effort

  •  The U.K. followed suit a month later while the

  • U.S. adopted it in 1918, which was claimed to

  • have saved the United  States $2 million in gas 

  • bills at the timeor around  $33 million when

  • adjusted for inflation.

  • Turning on the lights an hour later may have saved 

  • a lot of energy a hundred years ago

  • but industrialization and  technological advances 

  • mean that lighting  is a smaller part

  • of our overall energy consumption

  •  A 2017 study found that moving an hour of daylight

  • to the evening reduced electricity usage by an

  • average of just 0.34%.  Places further from the

  • equator, which experience  the biggest change in 

  • daylightwere more likely to save energy 

  • with daylight savingBut this was offset by 

  • countries closer to the equator

  • Longer sunlit evenings  in hot countries usually 

  • result in more time spent indoorspushing up 

  • electricity consumption  due to the need for air

  • conditioning and the growing number of

  • household  electronics

  •  The use of daylight saving continues to split opinion

  • Some countries are even  divided about the annual

  • ritual within their borders

  •   In the U.S., Hawaii and Arizona — states that

  • already get a lot of sunshine — are the

  • only two that haven't adopted daylight saving

  • Within Arizonahoweverit's even more confusing,

  • as there are territories and reservations which

  • don't have seasonal clock changes

  • There are also divides in  Australiawhere three

  • out of the eight states have not adopted daylight 

  • savingBrazilwhere  daylight saving is only

  • used in the south of the country which lies

  • furthest from the equatorand Canadawhere the

  • province of Saskatchewan doesn't have seasonal

  • clock changes, unlike the rest of the country

  •  But the European Union is planning to keep things

  • simple by getting rid of daylight saving altogether

  •  In 2019, the European Parliament voted to scrap 

  • daylight saving time across all member states from

  • 2021 following a poll showed EU residents 

  • were keen on the move

  • Howeversupporters and critics of seasonal clock

  • changes are divided about its effects.  

  •  For instancedaylight saving reduces road

  • traffic accidents — which  are more likely to occur 

  • after dark — by an estimated 13% in 

  • pedestrian fatalities and 3% fewer deaths among

  • those traveling in vehiclesHowever, a study in the U.S. 

  • found that during the week  immediately after the clocks

  • go back in the fallthere is an uptick

  • in fatal car crashes by 6%. 

  • Research has also shown that immediately after

  • the clocks go forward in  springthe risk of heart

  • attacks and strokes grows by 24%, which some 

  • attribute to the loss of an hour of sleep.

  • Conversely, when the clocks go back in autumn

  • the risk falls by 21%. 

  • Andstudy of people diagnosed with depression 

  • found that the end of  daylight saving time saw 

  • an 11% increase in depressive episodes

  • thought to be caused by  disruption to sleep

  • patterns and  darker evenings

  •  Studies also suggest that daylight saving causes a

  • fall in evening TV  viewership and 

  • increased physical activityThe brighter evenings are

  • also popular with retail  businesses as it encourages 

  • people to shop  more in the sunlight.  

  •  According to opinion polls, it's not the distribution of 

  • daylight hours that voters resentbut ratherthe 

  • one-hour transition  itself which many

  • see as  inconvenient

  • In both the U.S. and the U.K., surveys suggest

  • significant opposition to  the changing of the clocks

  • The further you travel from the equatorthe

  • greater the change in daylight hours between 

  • seasons and the  significance of the 

  • impact of daylight saving  increasesHoweverfor

  • those countries furthest from the equator, cutting

  • short the mornings of  already very short days

  • in the winter would be extremely unpopular

  • Although the EU'S switch away from seasonal clock 

  • changes has been postponed due to

  • the pandemicthe decision taken in the European

  • parliament suggests the move will happen soon

  • With around 80% of the global population not using 

  • daylight saving time and  many of the original reasons 

  • for implementing the change  no longer relevantthe clock 

  • appears to be ticking for daylight saving.

  • Hi guys, thanks for watching our video. We'd love for you

  • to subscribe but before you do that we want to know your

  • thoughts on daylight saving. Does it benefit you or does

  • it hinder you? Do you get one more hour of sleep or

  • do you have to go to school in the dark?

  • Comment below the video to let us know

  • and we'll see you next time.

For more than half the year, this sundial doesn't show the right time.

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